The Ontario government has announced that 10 sites providing supervised drug consumption services (SCS), including five in Toronto, must close by the spring.
The Ontario government has announced that 10 sites providing supervised drug consumption services , including five in Toronto, must close by the spring.
Elsewhere in the province, SCSs will be shutting down at Guelph Community Health Centre, 176 Wyndham St. N.; Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre, 70 James St. S.; Thunder Bay’s NorWest Community Health Centre, 525 Simpson St.; Region of Waterloo Public Health and Emergency Services, 150 Duke St. W., and Ottawa’s Somerset West Community Health Centre, 55 Eccles St.
Jones went on to say that assaults, violent crime and even homicides are up significantly in the vicinity of a number of supervised consumption sites in the province. Among other things, the province is also requiring them to create new complaints and serious incident policies for discouraging loitering, de-escalation, and service restriction, as well as enhanced reporting for greater ministry oversight of any safety and security concerns. A full list of requirements can be found online.
The province said that the services that would be offered at them could include primary care, mental health services. addiction care and support, social services and employment support, shelter and transition beds, supportive housing, and other supplies and services like naloxone, onsite showers, and food, it said.
"Research indicates that SCS are successful in reducing drug related harms. They provide immediate response to overdoses, which significantly reduces death rates. They also reduce public drug use and associate issues such as discarded needles." Moise added that emergency responders and emergency departments are "simply not equipped to support the influx of drug related calls that will result from a drastic loss of supervised consumption services," adding that the city is waiting for more details from the province about what the planned restrictions will entail. He notd that the city was not consulted by the province about this plan.
The first SCS site opened in Toronto in 2017. Currently, 10 sites in Toronto provide these services, six of which are provincially designated Consumption and Treatment Service sites that are funded by the province.
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